Speaking of sad, A Northmen (ANo) get the first gift. Sad Fans! You ever hear a sad songs and feel an emotional connection with a similar feeling of heartache, disappointment, loneliness, grief, or depression? Seeing a sad fan has the exact opposite effect. Seeing someone super sad about their favorite sports team is guaranteed to make you feel better 100% of the time. +4

Speaking of heartache of disappointment, I Look Good On Top (BF) gets a new GM for the Texans! Heck, how about we make BF the next GM for the Texans. Couldn't do any worse. +3
Speaking of doing worse, Beelzebubbles (CCo) gets they lose all their games and let me win! I'm going to interpret "they" here as everyone above CCo in the standings. She is 14 points from the leader in the standings, so this could happen y'all. This could be a sweet gift. Who is in!? +3

Nom nom nom

Speaking of sweet gifts, InnocentBystander (BJ) gets Vermont Pure Maple Syrup! Maple syrup is the perfect compliment to oatmeal, spaghetti, and also great if your New Year's resolution includes a master cleanse. +4

Speaking of perfect, Cactie (DCo), Phlying Hellfish (AD), and Slay All Day (CK) all get perfect pick'em cards! I can't wait to see those get filed in Week 18. We've never had multiple perfect cards in the same contest in the same week. +3

Speaking of winners, Bevo XV (DW) gets some scratch off lottery tickets. These are the ultimate no-labor gift that will allow DW to fantasize momentarily about finally getting that stadium suite in DKR. +4

Speaking of wieners, Swamp Dogs (DR) gets a Johnson(?)! I'm just going to interpret this gift as DR getting Velvet Neutral Ground and not a johnson but I'm not sure one gift is objectively better than the other. +3

I just graduated from college!

Speaking of nutty, Left Hand Scissors (GN) gets the fruitcake, because of course there was a fruitcake. Fun fact, fruitcakes really do last a long time. The internet tells me 25 years when stored properly. +3

Speaking of longshots, One Little, Two Little, Three Little Donkeys (KS) gets the gift of a parlay with the last four games on the card -- HOU -2.5, BAL +6, KC -3, DET +6.5. They will all be nationally televised and unopposed in their respective time slots. 4 teamers get 10-1 odds, so a simple wager of $100 bucks would lead to a very merry Christmas. That was a great gift, but the Texans pooped on it in the first game. +5

Speaking of lightning in a bottle, Huntwick Hosers (KW) get a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle!Hopefully KW shares. I'll share the fruitcake. +4

Speaking of drinking, Siemian's Stallions (MM) gets a model car! I don't have any other details, but it sounds cool. Treasure that. +3

Speaking of treasures, BlitzKrieg (RK) gets an empty jewelry box (regifted from an ex)! I suggest maybe repurposing it or paying it forward and regifting it next year.

Speaking of outside the box, Accidentchild (MN) gets How many mice does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Two but it’s kind of cramped. Oh, you got jokes. +3

Speaking of strong hangovers, Big Papa's Picks (AM) gets a bottle of Vitamin B Complex! Nothing is a miracle cure, but I'll be damned if these things haven't made some strong nights less punishing the next day. B vitamins even play on my Anything Mock Draught team. +5

And speaking of the last present, Butt Pickers (ANe) gets the last gift, which is a quarterback! Apparently these are important. The hopefully you'll share this one with the Texans. The Cowboys already have too many. +3

Sunday, December 11, 2016

First of all, what the heck is a patronus? My wife and/or kids have dragged me to each of the Harry Potter movies, as well as the recent Fantastic Beasts movie. The Potter movies weren't my jam, but the Beasts movie seems to have read from the Marvel Hit Movie Cookbook, and it followed the recipe well.

Don't ask me what Potter book a Patronus was mentioned (or if it is in all of them). I googled patronus and (of course) the Harry Potter wiki page was the first link. Here is what I found.

"This ancient and mysterious charm conjures a magical guardian, a projection of all your most positive feelings. The Patronus Charm is difficult, and many witches and wizards are unable to produce a full, corporeal Patronus, a guardian which generally takes the shape of the animal with whom they share the deepest affinity. You may suspect, but you will never truly know what form your Patronus will take until you succeed in conjuring it."

In normal people words, I assume this is pretty close to a spirit animal. What is your spirit animal?

Left Hand Scissors (GN): Smoking meat (+4)

Phlying Hellfish (AD): One of my favorite brands of tequila? (+4, I see what you did there)

Siemian's Stallions (MM): Not exactly sure what a patronus is, but I got an old ithica 12-guage pump action that I have a fancy for. If not that whiskey definitely whiskey. (+4, ha)

One Little, Two Little, Three Little Donkeys (KS): A donkey, duh (+4, it could have been Erin Andrews though)

Pimp Possee (JB): No clue (+3)

Creekside Body Count: Superspike VBall (+4, like)

InnocentBystander (BJ): Tom Savage? TBH, I had to look up what a patronus is...haha. (+4)

Tannesaurus Rex (CT): Leviosa corona (+4, clever)

Beelzebubbles (CCo): A dead cat (+4, I'm not sure if there is a backstory here, and I'm also not sure I want to know)

Dirt Burglars (DT): Always losing at pickem (+4, funny)

A Northmen (AN): Pottermore says it's a calico cat, I used to say it was a sloth, but now it's more like niffler #ravenclawesome(+4, nerd)

BlitzKrieg knocked it out the park again, so I'm copying his response below unedited.

BlitzKrieg (RK): I had to ask my 9 year old daughter (she has read all of the Harry Potter books, twice) what it meant. She got so excited and started telling me all about the Patronus Charm and then she started asking questions about the pickem-league and whether it has anything to do with Harry Potter and whether she could join if there were questions like this.

As a result, I neglected to fill it in immediately, thinking that something clever would come to mind. But it hasn't. I'll go with this fearsome, intimidating Patronus:

We'll see what the Bears and Packers will do when Roary starts prowling their sidelines in the upcoming weeks. The Giants and Cowboys are fortunate that they will not have to deal with my Patronus this year.(+5!)

Scoring here is simple. 5 points if you put something, 0 points if you didn't. #letsdothis

#bonusquestions

Slay All Day (CK): #bonusquestions << on the best and worst list
Beelzebubbles (CCo): #yourepeatingGeneralWartz6times << i couldn't help myself
Lost Cause (JH): #bringingbackthestashphoto
Dirt Burglars (DT): #virtualthanksgiving